Seasonal Workers To Benefit From Unemployment Compensation Changes

Posted on Nov 03, 2016

Sen. Lisa Baker looks on as Gov. Tom Wolf signs HB 319 into law on Nov. 3. Act 144 will help to ensure that seasonal workers and those who need unemployment insurance will have better and more efficient access to those funds

HARRISBURG – More than 40,000 seasonal or cyclical workers are once again eligible for unemployment compensation after Gov. Tom Wolf signed a new law today. Senate Labor and Industry Committee Chair Sen. Lisa Baker (R-20th) participated in the bill signing ceremony and offered remarks praising the bipartisan effort that restores benefits while ensuring the long-term solvency of the unemployment compensation system.

The matter was the focus of a pair of Senate Labor and Industry Committee hearings held in Erie and Philadelphia last year, following reports that seasonal workers were disproportionately impacted by a 2012 revision to the formula used to calculate unemployment compensation. Baker said, “The testimony compelled a thorough look at the issue and helped to put us on the path to a responsible remedy that becomes official today.”

“That labor and employers, Republicans and Democrats, legislators and the administration could find acceptable common ground on a contentious issue is a constructive result Pennsylvanians deserve more of,” Baker added. “The unemployment compensation issue shows how state government should operate – attack a big problem, figure out how to combine economic reality and the public interest, put in place a thought out and equitable solution, and move to address the glitches as they become apparent through experience.”